Marseille's Ligue 1 title hopes were dealt a devastating blow as a Karim Benzema brace earned deposed champions Lyon victory.

The France striker's double, which came in the 29th and 41st minutes, were added to in second-half stoppage time by Juninho, and all three goals would have been celebrated as much by Bordeaux fans as they were by Lyon supporters.

For it means in-form Les Girondins will take a three-point lead at the summit into the final two weekends.

OM's goal was scored by Sylvain Wiltord in the 81st minute but they will rue wasting a host of openings they crafted before the break.

Their title ambitions lie in tatters, with Bordeaux having a much easier run-in, and the Mediterranean side are now just four points clear of Les Gones, who strengthened their grip on third place.

Bordeaux's 3-2 win against Le Mans yesterday extinguished any slim hopes Lyon had of retaining the title they have owned for seven years.

The faltering form they have shown over the past few months has smashed their confidence and they began nervously against a buoyant OM, misplacing passes with alarming regularity.

Marseille created a raft of early chances, Mamadou Niang crashing a fierce 25-yard shot against the post and both Mathieu Valbuena and Brandao drawing saves out of Hugo Lloris, but they paid for their profligacy.

Brandao, a hard-working frontman, produced a striker's tackle in his own box to blatantly bring down fellow Brazilian Ederson, and Benzema sent Steve Mandanda the wrong way from the spot.

Benzema has been struggling for form of late but he looked back to his best when he collected Jeremy Toulalan's through-ball in acres of space and sidefooted home unforgivingly to put Lyon 2-0 up just before the break.

Benoit Cheyrou struck a low shot against the post in first-half injury time as OM continued to plug away, and two decent penalty appeals by Niang were waved away just after the interval.

Wiltord, a former Lyon player, came off the bench to tap home a Niang centre and set up a tense last few minutes.

But Lyon held out - and even added to their lead when substitute Juninho drove home a trademark free-kick from 40 yards.